USC League of Legends team takes down Washington in best-of-three

The Trojans’ League of Legends team beat University of Washington 2-1 in the fourth round of the 2022 Pac-U Gaming Conference last Sunday. Coming into this series, both teams were 3-0 in best-of-3′s. Though USC stumbled and lost the first match, they later fought back with a different strategy, leading to a Trojan victory. USC is the only team that is 4-0 in Pac-U gaming.

Game One:

USC Blue, UW Red

USC Picks: Gragas, Jarvan IV, Azir, Jinx, Karma

UW Picks: Jayce, Viego, Veigar, Aphelios, Lulu

While both teams displayed their dominance in the first three rounds, USC undisputedly had the advantage on lining — especially in the bot lane. The Trojans showcased their skills in the first game of matchups. USC’s Ha-Lim (Joseph) “Levitate” Hong and Daimyan “USC Inferno” Angulo, Jinx and Karma, had full control of the minion waves in the beginning of the game due to their longer attacking range and better line-pushing ability, leading to a Jinx-obtained 22-CS lead six minutes into the game.

A failed gank under the bot lane turret by USC was countered by UW’s Mid laner and Jungler picking up their first two kills as well as the Cloud Dragon. But USC’s bot lane still had the lining advantage and the first Rift Herald. They took down the first turret and the Infernal Dragon 10 minutes into the game, leading to a snowballing advantage that rose to two thousand gold in the side lanes in the next 13 minutes.

However, UW’s poke ability with two-item Jayce and Veigar destroyed USC before the dragon fight. The fight between UW and USC ended with four kills and the Ocean Dragon for UW. UW picked up the Baron later to expand their gold advantage to five thousand gold. But a mistake made by UW’s mid lane Baron buff pushing almost gave their game away, where USC gained four kills and destroyed the two turrets near the Nexus. UW killed USC’s Top laner, Hosung “K1MCH22″ Kim, and Jungler, Samuel “Dęamon” Moralejo, when fighting for the mid lane priority at 30 minutes followed by the destruction of USC’s Nexus, ending the game 14-26.

Game Two:

USC Red, UW Blue

USC Picks: Graves, Poppy, Karma, Jhin, Alistar

UW Picks: Sylas, Jarvan IV, Veigar, Caitlyn, Leona

Both Junglers paid more attention to the Bot lane as they started the second game from their upper area buffs. USC’s Poppy chose a faster way to reach level three through killing Gromp rather than the Blue buff so that he engaged in an early attack on the enemies in the bot lane three minutes into the game, helping USC’s Jhin obtain the first blood.

USC’s bot lane continued expanding their gold advantage with the help of Jungler diving the turret multiple times. Twelve minutes into the match, USC’s Jhin led 30 CS ahead of UW’s Caitlyn. Once they killed the second dragon, USC obtained a 4.5 thousand gold lead. In the mid game, UW’s Jarvan IV attempted to attack USC’s Graves and help UW’s Sylas build some advantages, while USC’s Top laner scouted for potential enemies in the upper section of the map.

After USC killed four champions in the mid lane at 22 minutes of the game, they obtained the Ocean Dragon soul. Following another four-kill fight in the upper area river, the Trojans took the Baron at 25 minutes of the game, leading to a Trojan victory 23-9.

Game Three:

USC Blue, UW Red

USC Picks: Wukong, Jarvan IV, Lissandra, Caitlyn, Lux

UW Picks: Jayce, Viego, Corki, Jinx, Karma

The Trojans picked an aggressive Top-Jungle-Mid composition, especially in teamfighting. Their bot lane, Caitlyn and Lux, remained dominant in the laning phase.

However, the final game didn’t start as expected. USC’s Caitlyn flashed forward but failed to pick up a kill on UW’s Karma due to a miscalculation on damage three minutes into the game, while UW’s Jinx obtained the first blood with the kill of Caitlyn.

Laning against UW’s Corki, USC’s Mid laner Matthew “BirdofSand” Howard, Lissandra, had the control of the minion waves in the early game. At five minutes of the game, when UW’s half-HP Jungler and Bot lane attempted to kill the first dragon, USC displayed a well-executed attack. USC’s Jarvan IV’s EQ stole the dragon from the enemy’s Jungler first and Lissandra’s flash and W froze and killed three champions.

With more help from Jarvan IV, USC’s bot lane took down the first turret 12 minutes into the game. Following Caitlyn and Lux switching to the top lane, they took full visual control of the upper side of the map, increasing their gold advantage by destroying the turrets, stealing resources and gaining kills. The Trojans had a five thousand gold lead at 17 minutes into the game.

As Jarvan IV caught and killed UW’s Viego in the juggle, USC obtained the Baron uncontestedly 22 minutes into the game. With the Baron buff, the Trojans destroyed the third mid lane turret and gained the dragon soul. Although USC made some mistakes in their turret pushing, for example, they were forced to retreat due to impatience near the Nexus, they still won the final game 29-12 due to huge economy and equipment lead.

The USC League of Legends team will play against the OSU Beavers on Feb 19th.